This was posted on another forum, but thought I should share here, for anyone who wants to make sure their coals don't get choked by the ash in their SFB. The fix takes about 5 minutes, costs about 10 bucks, and works very well. I was going to post it in the Chargriller Family section, but if someone wants to search for CG SFB Mod, it will be more easily found here.

You'll need to get some stainless (NOT galvanized) steel strapping from your local hardware store--cost me I think 3.99 CDN for 10 feet of it at Home Depot. You'll also need to get a basket of some sort (I bought mine for 6 bucks at the "Real Canadian Superstore" here in town, but you might be able to find something comparable--I have 2 smaller, very similar baskets I purchased at Linen N Things of all places, so it pays to go these kinda stores with your wife!).

I took these pics from the top showing just the strapping, with the original SFB charcoal grate on them, then with the basket on top, the same shots from the side, and finally, the basket in action:

Straps only:

Straps with charcoal tray in place:

Straps with original charcoal grate for SFB in place:

Straps with everything in place:

Side view, straps only:

Side view, straps, grate, and basket in place:

Basket in SFB, loaded for a brisket cook in the wee hours of the morning:

Your SFB is clean! I'm guessing that's a brand new SFB...or am I just not doing something right? LOL

I might have gotten the idea off of you, honestly. I vaguely remember that pic. My strapping isn't quite as heavy duty as yours, but mine I found is easily pulled up to allow sweeping of the rogue ashes, then put back into place easily. I figured it wouldn't take long to burn out, but it's had several runs with no problems. Then again, at 3.99 per 10 feet, I can afford to replace it LOL.

Thanks for posting your pic--it's a bit clearer than mine and will help others better I think.

I really appreciate the photos from phyx of his basket. My question is this. I saw a copper basket at Lowes last night in the kitchen department, assuming it is for holding veggie, etc. Can this be used as a charcoal basket in the SFB? Copper-based bottom paint for boats kills barnacles (living things), so I wonder if there is any negative effects from using such a material for the basket. I'm no chemist, so I need some help on this one. Thanks.

Just make sure there aren't any chemical coatings on it (stainless steel and chrome are ok).

It'd be a lot easier if you just bough a 2'X2' piece of expanded metal and some stainless steel wire to make a nice charcoal box for yourself. It was easy and only took me about an hour (had to chisel away to cut out the corners of the expanded metal).

My FSB came with cast grates the same as the main chamber grates.....I guess those would hold up to the fire. These mods are pretty cool as anyone can do them with normal hand tools.

My version is a bit more "involved", should I say.

Having access to welder and my tools at work is really helpful. I fix RVs so we have about everything available in the shop.

I made a rack from 3/8" round bar that I can put in their place that lowers the fire area about 1.25"-1.5" to make it easier to feed when using wood instead of coals.I also used a rangetop grate(from RV rangetop) to make up a coal basket that will sit in the fire rack i made. It's made of about 3/16" steel so it's gonna be plenty durable.

I'll post some pics as soon as I find out which one of my girls has run off with the camera this weekend.

Curious - at what temp is your CG holding at the time of that last pic. And what does the temp range from beginning to end in a basket of that size. From first lite to the changing of the coals. My CG is on the way and I am trying to cut down some research time if you don't mind me piggy backin (no pun intended) off of you. Thanks

That metal basket looks like galvanized steel. If so, you need to get rid of it and make a new one.

Otherwise, looks like it should work great!

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TX_RibMan,

If you're asking about my pic, that was when I first dumped the lit on the unlit. However, within about 30 minutes, my temp gets to about 275 so I put the meat on. After opening the lid, and the meat itself acting like a heat sink, the temp drops to about 225-240. It will stablize around 233 or so and remain there for several hours on one load of coals.

Without any wind, I've maintained 233 for about 5 hours on one basket of coals. Every once in a while I'll give the basket a shake to drop some ash...but otherwise, you get a decent burn out of it. Once it drops to 200, I'll rake the coals to one side (I used to put them on the MC side, but since put the hot coals closer to the air intake) then fill the basket with unlit coals. Your fire will drop at first to around 180 or so, then it will be back up to 220-250 in about 10-15 minutes and stay there for the duration of the coals.

Why not just use the cooking grate that comes with the CG and order a couple of the baskets from the CG company? They fit perfectly in the chamber and setting them on the cooking grate leaves plenty of room for the ashes to fall out. Seems like a lot of work to make stuff that is already available from the company.

If there's no such thing as a stupid question, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask?

Why not just use the cooking grate that comes with the CG and order a couple of the baskets from the CG company? They fit perfectly in the chamber and setting them on the cooking grate leaves plenty of room for the ashes to fall out. Seems like a lot of work to make stuff that is already available from the company.

Because when you click on the link for the CG basket, you get a screen that says it is either out of stock or no longer available.

I had just dumped the coals in when I took the pic. It was a windy day and the coals lasted about 2 hours at 230.
Going to Linens and Things after work to get a different basket.

I used to use the cooking grate on my CG to hold my baskets, and it worked fine. Lowering the level of the fire, while keeping it above the ash pan, allows you to put more fuel in the SFB for longer burns. If you're just going to be doing small cooks (ribs, chickens, etc.) then there's no need to lower the fire. However, if you're cooking large briskets and butts, you'll appreciate getting 5 hours of steady temps at a time. With the fire on the cooking grate, you can't load as much fuel, and your MC temps will be a bit hotter as well (at least mine were before I switched to the straps/basket mod--then again I hadn't flipped my charcoal tray in the MC at that point either, which definitely contributes to lower temps).

The bottom line is, whatever works for you is what you should go with. Cooking with a lowered fire works great for me with large cuts of meat and smaller, and a fire on the cooking grate worked just fine too--just had to load fuel more often.